Coaches

Head Coach - David Cooper

Cooper has been an integral part to the Mill Rats organization both on and off the court for the past five years. First as a player for three years, then as an assistant coach and VP of Marketing. 

His new role as Head Coach this year is an exciting turn, one that Cooper says will help him develop and train players at the next level. He has been involved with coaching and development for over 10 years now.

Cooper graduated from James Madison University in 2006 after playing Division 1 NCAA basketball. He holds a Major in Kinesiology/ Sports Management and Business.  

Cooper also played in the Northeast-10 Conference , was part of the USV1 National Team, was name to the Strength and Conditioning All American team and was a Mill Rats player for three years. 

During the 2009-2010 season, Cooper was named Head Coach for Hesser College and lead the team to the NCAA Final 4 Conference in their first year. Later that year, in 2010, Cooper became a co-founder of Manchester, New Hampshire's, Bishop Elite AAU Basketball. David Cooper also founded David Cooper Basketball and partnered with Matt Bonner from the NBA San Antonio Spurs to run clinics and workouts throughout New Hampshire to promote Matt Bonner Basketball. 

Since relocating to Saint John in 2010, Coop has also founded the Mill Rats Basketball Academy, dedicated to the training and development of players at an elite level. During his ten year tenor, Cooper has coached over 30 AAU teams from ages 10-17 on a local, national and international competitive level. He has personally developed over 100 collegiate and professional players.

Assistant Coaches

Assistant Coach: Randy Loatman

Born and raised in Saint John, Randy played high school ball in the city. He has also been heavily involved with coaching different levels of basketball for 18 years. Randy also played college ball at UNBSJ on two championship teams. 

Assistant Coach: Paul Vaughan 

Returning for his second season on the Mill Rats bench, Paul has been a fixture in the New Brunswick basketball community for over 30 years as a player and coach.

As a player, Paul led Kennebecasis Valley High School (Class ’81) to the 1980 NBIAA Championship and NBCC Saint John (1981-82, 1983-85) to the NB Small College title in 1984. In 1981 Paul represented New Brunswick as a member of the 1981 Canada Games Men’s basketball team and the 1982 New Brunswick U21 team.

Following his college playing days, Paul’s Sr. men’s teams dominated basketball throughout the Maritimes for over twenty years. Coach Vaughan has been coaching at Kennebecasis Valley High School since 2003 plus was part of Canada Basketball’s Center for Performance from 2005 to 2011. In 2010 and 2011 Paul was named head coach of the New Brunswick U15 boys team that competed at the Midget Boys National Championships.

Assistant Coach: Jim Palmer

Jim is a second year assistant coach with the Saint John Mill Rats and the former head coach of the UNBSJ Seawolves.  Jim began coaching in Lancaster Minor Basketball when he was 15 and since then, he has coached numerous teams including provincial champions at St. Malachy's Memorial High School (1997), Fredericton High School (2001), River Valley Middle School (2005), and River Valley Basketball Association (2007).

Jim and his father (Mark) also coached the New Brunswick boys under 15 provincial team for 7 years, capturing a Bronze Medal at the 2003 Canadian National Tournament. Jim graduated from UNB with a degree in Kinesiology (Major in Coaching) and a degree in Education. He is also a certified NCCP Level 3 Basketball Coach.

Jim co-founded Summer Jam Basketball Camps back in 1996 and since then, has successfully owned and operated basketball camps that took place over summers and March Breaks. In high school, Jim played basketball for Saint Malachy's, earning the honour of being named an NBIAA All-Star in his senior year, while leading the Saints to a berth in the provincial final

Assistant Coach: Aaron Drummond

Physiotherapist: Cathy Simon BScPE, BScPT, MCPA

Cathy returns as Team Physiotherapist to the Saint John Mill Rats. She  was  born and raised in Saint John and is a graduate of St.Francis Xavier University (BSc PE)  and  the University of Toronto(BScPT).Cathy has extensive experience in Sports Physiotherapy, working at the local, National and International levels in numerous sports such as soccer, rugby, wrestling  , athletics, volleyball and hockey.  For the past 18 years, she has owned and operated Active Physiotherapy Clinic (www.activephysioclinic.com which  provides Physiotherapy and Work Force Consulting Services to Saint John and surrounding communities.